The Little Mote Lyrics
A speck of dust dances in a sunbeam all day. One morning it hears the housemaid complain about all the dust she has to clean. The mote feels sorry for her and decides to hide in her hair, hoping she will never notice.
The Little Mote
A little mote lived in a sunbeam,
And danced in its light all day;
But she jumped with surprise one morning,
At hearing the housemaid say:
"Oh, the dust! How it keeps one a-working!
It settles all over the room -
And the air is so full, it is folly
To labor with duster and broom!"
"Poor thing!" sighed the mote, "well, I'm sorry.
I think I'll go hide in her hair -
I'm such a wee speck of a dustlet
She never will know I am there."
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/the-little-mote/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Written by
- Mary Mapes Dodge
- Tune
- Light and dancing for the sunbeam, then a sympathetic sigh in the last verse
- Best for ages
- 3 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| And danced in its light all day; | Spin slowly on the spot like a speck floating in a sunbeam. |
| I think I'll go hide in her hair - | Cover your head with your hands and shrink small. |
What Does The Little Mote Mean?
A mote is a tiny speck of dust, the kind you can see floating in a ray of sunlight. In this poem one speck lives in a sunbeam and dances there all day. The poem looks at dust from two sides: to the mote it is a happy dance, and to the housemaid it is a long list of work, the duster and the broom. She says the dust settles all over the room, and the air is so full of it that cleaning is folly, meaning foolishness.
The mote's reply is the joke and the sweet part. She says poor thing and is sorry for the housemaid, so she decides to hide in the maid's hair. She is such a dustlet, a made-up word for a very small bit of dust, that the housemaid will never know she is there. The mote is not helping with the cleaning. She is trying to stay out of the way, which is what many small creatures would do.
History and Origin
Dodge's book Rhymes and Jingles, copyrighted in 1874, is where the mote poem appears.
Learning Activities
- Sunbeam watch: on a sunny day, sit near a window and watch the specks drifting in the light.
- Dust dance: dance slowly like a speck in the air and freeze when a grown-up calls cleaning time.
- Two sides: talk about how the dust looks to the mote and how it looks to the housemaid.
- Tidy-up help: give the child a small duster or dry cloth to wipe a low shelf.